Breakfast at Sarah Jay’s

I awoke too early this morning. This is growing tiresome. When I was in college, I used to could have slept until noon. These days, I am up with the crows as my grandmother used to say. I could not go back to sleep.

I got in the car and made my way down to Sarah Jay’s eatery for breakfast. They start serving at seven. I walked inside, sat down, and the waitress came up to greet me.

“What can I get you honey?” She asked.

“I’ll have the fiesta omelet with extra jalapenos and an order of bacon,” I replied.

“I’ll have it out in a minute,” She said as she smiled and then walked towards the kitchen.

As I was sitting there drinking my glass of orange juice, I saw Ferret emerge from the woods across from the railroad tracks. “I wonder where he is going,” I thought. I have kind of been avoiding Ferret these days. I have grown tired of hanging around fuck-ups and drunkards.

Soon, the waitress came walking out with my order in hand.

“Here ya go honey,” She said. “Enjoy.”

The omelet looked and tasted delicious. I sat quietly eating my meal as I people watched. There were definitely some interesting looking people in Sarah Jay’s this morning.

I finished my breakfast, placed a tip on the table, and walked over to the cashier to pay.

“Was everything okay?” She asked.

“Yes ma’am,” I replied. “It was delicious.”

“You have a nice day,” She said as she smiled.

I then drove on over to the shopping center where the gang hangs out. I needed to run by Fred’s dollar store to buy some shampoo and conditioner. I am almost out. I grabbed what I needed and walked over to check out. As usual, the line was long and they only had one cashier open out of five lanes. The man in front of me finally got tired of waiting and sat his purchase on the counter next to us and walked out in a huff. I remained patient and before long the line started to move briskly. My turn to pay finally arrived.

“Your John’s son, aren’t you?” The cashier asked.

“Everyone knows my father,” I thought.

“Yes ma’am. That is my dad,” I replied.

“He’s a good man. I have been trading with him for years”

“Thank you. He is a good father,” I said.

I walked out of the store and looked up towards the grocery store. Big S was already in his spot panhandling. It was going to be one of the hottest days of the summer so far and Big S was going to sit out in this heat all day and beg people for money. You have to give him credit for tenacity.

I don’t know what I am going to do with the rest of my day. My house is clean. My car is washed and all my laundry is done. I do have a weird craving for two of those $1 double cheeseburgers from McDonald’s and I never eat fast food. I think I will drive down in a minute and buy some along with a chocolate shake; sounds good to me. Good day.